In the manufacture of LCD substrates, a sizing procedure is used in which a large sheet of glass is scored and separated into smaller glass sheets having a size suitable for further processing into displays. To ensure that these smaller glass sheets have sufficient strength to withstand the display manufacturing process with minimal levels of breakage, the edges of the scored and separated pieces are given a rounded profile of the type shown in FIG. 1.
At present, this profile is obtained using a metal-bonded diamond grinding wheel. Such wheels include a groove which contacts the scored edge of the glass sheet and grinds the edge until it has the profile of FIG. 1. The process and equipment associated with the use of such wheels requires the removal of a minimum of 200 microns of glass per edge to assure proper processing. This amount of removal is necessitated by such factors as system misalignment and machine conveying accuracy through the grinding operation.
The existing wheel-based grinding technology thus applies a substantial grinding load to the glass during the finishing process. It also reduces the speed at which that process can operate and still maintain acceptable quality levels. There thus exists a need in the art for edge finishing methods and apparatus which overcome these deficits in the current technology.